Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 7/8/9

Circuit: Imola (I); Length: 4.909 km, 26^th/27^th/28^th June 2015
www.autodromoimola.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2015:
Marcos Siebert (ARG), Lucas Mauron (CH) and Arlind Hoti (D)

Podium for Siebert in Imola

The third of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place on the character-packed Imola circuit. 27 drivers were in attendance, all very keen to take on the latest challenge. The races can be followed live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Friday, 26/06/15, 19.15 – 19.55, Weather: Sunny, 27°C

The rules of the championship allow for two qualifying sessions, each 15 minutes long, with a break of just ten minutes in between. Results from qualification 1 determine the grid for Race One, while results from qualification session 2 determine the grid for Race Three; the grid for Race Two is based on the results of Race One, with the first ten finishers starting in reverse order.

After two free practice sessions in the morning we went straight into qualifying. This took place in the evening on what was a very hot day. The large field was very close and our drivers performed well. Marcos and Lucas drove very well and claimed good positions in the top ten, with Marcos the best of them in 3rd for the grid of Race One. Arlind and Moritz were fighting for positions in the midfield and everyone improved steadily.
At scrutineering afterwards the floor of Beckmann’s car was found to be not in conformity with the regulations and all of his times from both qualifying sessions were deleted. That moved all of our drivers up one place up the order.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 27/06/15, 14.25, Weather: Sunny, 31°C

The race started in the heat of the afternoon. Marcos made a good start but at the Tosa corner ended up on the wrong line which cost him several places. He fell back to 8^th which put him immediately in front of Lucas, who had lost a place to Raucci at the start. Moritz made up a few places at the start, but then ran wide which was enough to enable several drivers to come back past him. Going into the Tamburello corner another car caught his rear and Moritz ended up stuck in the gravel trap with quite a lot of damage to the car.
Arlind had been pushed aside at the start but was able to continue and to slot back in a few places further back. He spent the first part of the race in constant conflict with Desideri and Kanayet and the latter part trading places with Ye. Arlind finished a very fraught race in 16^th. At the front Marcos overtook Rauccia and drove well in 7^th place. When Baiz was handed a Drive Through penalty for a jump start, Marcos moved up to 6^th. He then closed the gap to Baruch and started to pressure him. After his attack failed Marcos decided not to take any more chances and settled for bringing it him in 6^th place. Lucas also got away well and drove steadily in 8^th until Vieira launched an attack on him in the Tamburello corner. Lucas thought that he was in the right place on the inside of the corner, but they touched and Lucas shot into the gravel. He eventually made it back out and was able to get to the finish, but his top ten position had now simply evaporated.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 28/06/15, 08.25, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

The sun was already burning hot early this morning, but the artificial grass was still soaking wet from the overnight thunderstorm. Immediately after the start three separate incidents happened, with cars slipping on the Astroturf and spinning into the barriers and the Safety Car had to be deployed at once. Marcos started well and held onto 5^th, while Arlind moved up to 11^th and Moritz was 21^st. Lucas was involved in contact which damaged his front wing so he came into the pit lane, where the part was changed. He managed to catch up with the field again before the restart. At the restart Moritz tried to gain a few places but was hit from behind and his rear tyre damaged. He could do nothing other than drive back to the pits and park the car. Marcos was ready at the restart and immediately moved up to 3^rd. He was utterly determined and saw his chance to put pressure on Baruch. A lap later he was through and was now in an excellent 2^nd place. Arlind also managed the restart well and moved up to 8^th. When Sato made a mistake, Arlind passed him and put in a solid drive to come home 7^th. Meanwhile Lucas bravely fought his way up the order and was already 10^th. Then the Safety Car had to be deployed again after Ortmann had an accident. The final laps were run behind the Safety Car, and there was no restart which meant no further changes to positions. That mean Marcos was proud to step up onto the second step of the podium.
After the race Aron was handed a 25 second time penalty, with the effect that Arlind moved up to 6^th and Lucas moved up to 9^th in the results.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 28/06/15, 17.40, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

The third race finally started after a long hot wait at the end of the afternoon, still in blistering heat. Marcos immediately improved to 5^th, Lucas was already 7^th. Arlind was in 18^th and Moritz was 19^th. Some tough fighting went on in the midfield, with everyone wanting to move up the order again. Moritz fell back a little after contact, but Arlind was on a good run and was improving, at least until he got close to Raucci. They clashed in the chicane and both ended up stuck in the gravel trap. The Safety Car had to be deployed while both cars were retrieved from the dangerous position they had fetched up in. At the front Baiz was handed a Drive Through penalty, which meant that Marcos moved up to an excellent 4^th place. Lucas was battling with Ortmann, after claiming 6^th place, while Moritz had worked his way up to 15^th. At the restart all our drivers kept their positions, despite some very hard driving throughout the field. Towards the end of the race another accident happened which brought out the Safety Car again. This time the race was not restarted, and therefore everyone’s positions stayed the same.

The next race meeting for Formula 4 Italy takes place in two weeks’ time, on the weekend of 12^th July at Mugello (I).

Championship Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2015 after 9 races out of 21:
1^st Ralf Aron (EST), 143 points; 2^nd Guan Yu Zhou (CIN), 135 points; 3^rd Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 78 points; 4^th David Beckmann (D), 68 points; 5^th Bar Baruch (ISR), 60 points; 6^th Joao Vieira (BRA), 60 points; 7^th Marcos Siebert (ARG), 36 points; 8^th Lucas Mauron (CH), 30 points; 15^th Nico Rindlisbacher (CH), 10 points; 18^th Arlind Hoti (D), 4 points

2015 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

• www.acisportitalia.it/F4/
• www.italiaracing.net